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Translated By DeepL

Omega's Speedmaster, the story behind its creation. Facts and trivia 54 years after the first man landed on the moon.

THAT'S ONE SMALL STEP FOR A MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND--.

On July 21, 1969 at 2:56:15 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) , Captain Neil Armstrong of "Apollo 11" descended to the Moon. . It was in an area named the Sea of Tranquility.

The opening lines of the speech, translated as "This is a small step for one man, but a great leap for mankind," were uttered on that occasion.


Apollo 11 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center. The one-week mission began here.

About 20 minutes after Armstrong, pilot Buzz Aldrin landed at 3:15:16 UTC. Aldrin, who described the area as a "spectacular wasteland," jumped like a kangaroo and enjoyed the low-gravity world.



The top three photos are of Buzz Aldrin. . If you look closely, you can see that he wears his "Speedmaster" outside the ship.

The two men successfully collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kilograms) of lunar material in a little over two hours.

Another crew member, Pilot Michael Collins, awaits their return to the command module. Collins, who never set foot on the Moon, was sometimes referred to as "The forgotten astronaut," but he was an integral part of the mission.

The fifth manned mission of the Apollo program ended successfully. President John F. Kennedy's national goal of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth by the end of the 1960s" was successfully accomplished, and the fierce space race between the United States and the Soviet Union came to an end.

The moment of the century was also delivered to Japan via television. The average viewership was an astonishing 82%. Unfortunately, the quality of the broadcast was so poor that most viewers did not care, but Aldrin was wearing an OMEGA Speedmaster Professional on her right wrist at the time.

The current model carries on the heritage and romance.

Five years before the Apollo 11 launch, NASA tasked the world's leading watchmakers to develop a chronograph that could withstand the rigors of space travel.

The Speedmaster Professional was the only watch to exceed the pass mark in all 11 categories, including temperature, shock, and vibration, and was recognized as official NASA equipment.

On June 1, 1965, the Speedmaster Professional, the only watch to pass the grueling test, was certified as official equipment of NASA.

The Speedmaster Moonwatch Master Chronometer presented here is the legitimate successor to such a masterpiece.

The asymmetrical case, the stepped black dial, the anodized aluminum bezel ring with 90 dots over 90 ... these design details echo those of the Speedmaster Professional, which was issued to the crew of Apollo 11. The design details are in the same form as those of the Speedmaster Professional, which was issued to the crew of Apollo 11.



"SPEEDMASTER" MOONWATCH PROFESSIONAL
CASE : STEEL, 42mm
MECHANISM : MANUAL WINDING
POWER RESERVE : 50 HOURS
WATERPROOFNESS : 5 BAR
PRICE : $0.00 ¥880,000

The windshield is made of Hesarite, a type of reinforced plastic. The Speedmaster Professional, which was worn by the crew of Apollo 11 and every astronaut who ever went to the moon, was made of this reinforced plastic.

A bracelet consisting of a row of five brushed arched links adorns the masculine body like a picture frame.

The caliber 3861 is the movement used in the Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Limited Edition. It was awarded the title of "Master Chronometer" after easily passing the accuracy tests of the Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute and the Swiss Federal Office of Lightweight and Accreditation.

Two bits of trivia every OMEGA owner should know.

. two last bits of trivia.

The Speedmaster Professional had been issued to Armstrong, but was not on his wrist when he became "man on the moon. The digital timer on the lunar module malfunctioned, and Armstrong's beloved watch was left on board as a contingency.

The Speedmaster Professional was first used on the manned moon flight Apollo 13, which was launched in 1970.

Apollo 13 was forced to return home when its oxygen tank exploded. The ship needed to make a course correction before re-entering the atmosphere. . The required engine firing time was 14 seconds exactly, but the ship's digital timer was not available. . However, the digital timer on board was not working because the power was running low. The ship's digital timer could not be used, because the power supply was running low. The Speedmaster Professional took over this responsibility. The crew survived.

An astronaut wearing the Speedmaster on his wrist.

Text_Kei Takegawa

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